Kie
I don't finish my food. Luckily, im not known for finishing it. Know who is? JJ. Good job. You guessed it. When I convinced him I wasn't hungry enough to finish it, he took it, and cleaned that sucker. I wish I could say I wasn't surprised. It's so normal by now.
It was weird, because he took his time doing it, offering me some things as he went on. He did that sometimes, but I think he knows something. I don't want him to know something. It's not his business. I want him to live happily. Live knowing that he's gonna be safe, not worry about me. I love JJ too much to let him live like that.
I know, I feel guilty loving another man while in a relationship. But I don't feel love, just fear. I know what he'll do if I break things off. That's what scares me. I've been through two small bottles of primer, and 3/4's of my new foundation. I had some left, and I missed. One. Fucking. Bruise. Jayj saw it too. I'm too scared to tell him, but mainly, it's clearly not his business.
"Kie! You and I have to talk!" Sarah exclaims.
I groan, slowly getting up out of my seat, making JJ spring up, helping me out.
"It's okay... I gotcha, Kie." JJ whispers softly.
I smile, watching him kiss my hands in a smooth manor. He places his hand on my middle back, guiding me to wherever Sarah wants to talk. I feel the broken couch as I sit down. JJ smiles down at me. He leans down, gently kissing my cheek. He heads outside. I watch him walk, but he catches me. He just winks at me, then heads back by the boys and Cleo.
"Sooo...?" I start.
"So! I wanna hear about your boyfriend! Is he sweet? You love him? What's he like?" She asked, furrowing her brows.
"Uh- he's sweet.. um, we haven't really used that word. Well, we did once, but I don't know. He's very- intent with the relationship." I finish, gulping whatever fear I had talking about him, down.
"Kie, are you sure? I mean, I've noticed the way he talks to you. Or about you. I don't like it-" I cut her off almost immediately.
I shoot up to my feet, "nothing's going on!" I panic.
"Woah, Kie, relax, I was just-" I cut her off again.
"You- you don't know what the hell you're talking about!" I say, rushing to grab my things from the counter.
I run out the door. I feel my breath hitch. I can't breathe. I'm suffocating.
Fuck.
Sarah
I don't follow her, I run outside, freaking out. I hear the boys talking. I run over to John B, grabbing his shoulders. Tears run down my face, and I'm panting hard.
"Woah, woah, hey! It's everything okay, sar?" He asks, grabbing my waist to stabilize me.
"Kie. Boyfriend. Ran." I managed to say between sobs.
"Ay, she went to go find em?" Cleo asked.
I violently shook my head.
"She ran out because of him?" Pope asks.
I point at him, letting everyone know that's the one.
Everyone gets up. JJ's the first to get to a vehicle. He gets on his dirt bike, and I point the general direction. He salutes, and quickly drives off. John B and I head for the Twinkie, and I don't know what Pope and Cleo are doing.
Pope
See, I've had suspicions. It's the same way JJ acted at first. Kie's taking that role. I didn't want this to happen, but I have talked to everyone but JJ about it. I know he knows something, but it hasn't clicked. I mean, Ashton isn't dead, so, it really hasn't clicked. Who knows, I could be wrong too.
I don't know why Kie would go with Ashton in the first place. She's clearly in love with JJ. She never stops him when he's kissing her cheek, cuddling with her, holding her hand. Never. He cares about her more than Ashton ever could. Than anyone ever could. It's shitty they fought, and it's shitty that Ashton just found her.
Cleo and I decided to head on foot, so if we see her, we don't have to park, we can just run to her.
Cleo and I are jogging around looking every which way.
After a while, we thought to check our texts. That's before we saw her. Cleo taps me on the shoulder. There's a figure. Long curly hair, blowing back. Leaning against rail. Staring down at the water. She's on the dock. I don't know how Cleo saw her, but she thankfully did. We ran towards it.
"KIARA, GIRL!" Cleo screamed, running towards her.
Kiara turned to face us. Tears running down her face, followed with wet mascara.
"Kie... it's okay. We just wanna talk..." I whispered, stepping closer.
I'm not good with this stuff with her. JJ is, I Signal Cleo to call JJ. She silently walks away.
"There's nothing to talk about!" She mumbles.
"We both know that isn't true. We all know Ashton isn't-" I get cut off.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" She yells, trying to leave, I quickly grab her.
She struggles in my arms momentarily, then we hear a dirt bike. She must not have noticed, she doesn't even look. JJ runs over, taking her out of my arms, and into his. She's still struggling to get free.
"Hey, hey... Kie, sweetheart, it's me." JJ whispers, holding the back of her head, running his hands up and down her back.
She stops squirming and gives in, but drops to the dock in sobs. JJ's quick to follow and pulls her to him. He waves us off, mouthing that he has it. Cleo and I walk away.
JJ
I don't know why she's flipping so bad, but I don't care. She gets this regardless. I feel her tremble against me. I move us towards the end of the dock. I give her clear view of the water. She sits between my legs, while my arms wrap around her. Put my head on hers. I move my hands and my head. I put my hands on her shoulders, starting to massage them.
"You okay, kie?" I whisper, my face in her hair.
I love that smell. Familiar. Amazing. Coconut, salt water, and jasmine. It really feels like home. When she's here, I feel safe. I want her to feel the same. I want her to feel safe right now. I know I don't do too much for her.
Okay maybe that's a lie. I go all out for this woman. I'd do anything for her. Except that night. The night that ruined both of our lives. I lost her, and she's hurting. I know we're good, and I know we're not stop being friends. But maybe I don't wanna be friends. I wanna be her boyfriend. I wanna be hers. I want her to be mine. I know she feels it. She never stops me. She never has. But it's different now. She's in a relationship, but she doesn't push me away. She wants me to keep going. Lucky for her, I'm not going anywhere.
"I've been better..." she whispers, leaning back.
I continue to massage her shoulders. "What's been on your mind, princess?" I ask.
She mumbles.
"What was that?" I whisper.
"You." She mumbles.
"What about me?" I ask, rubbing her shoulders.
"JJ, I have a whole ass boyfriend, and here we are." She says.
"So what?" I challenge.
"As much as I want this to continue, we can't. Ashton will kill me." She states. Her body starts to tremble again. She's not relaxed anymore, and I haven't missed it.
"Sweetheart, be honest. Please don't run. Is he hurting you?" I ask, feeling her breath hitch.
"In what way?" She asks.
"Any way." I confirm.
She sighs, turning to look me in the eyes.
"Yes."
And that's when I lost it.
"How? Does he hit you, Kie? Force you to do things? Please." I beg.
"JJ, he'd kill me! I can't say anything more." She begs, tears start to run down her cheeks.
"Okay. Okay, it's okay." I say, pulling her back to my chest, rubbing her arms. I kiss around her head.
I need to stop, but I won't. I'll do it to protect her. I'm her safe zone. Until I found out how he hurts her, I just have to be the protective friend.
Friend that's madly in love with this girl.